Graduates Benefit from Telephone Interview Training

The Adab Trust in collaboration with BT has recently began providing telephone interview training opportunities for graduates preparing for corporate job interviews.

The Adab Trust is a charity which works to address the udner-representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students in graduate schemes and at management levels in leading UK firms. 

BT is working closely with the Adab Trust as part of its graduate recruitment campaign and is running a number of coaching sessions for students, helping them to develop their application and interviewing skills.

Helen Folorunso of the Adab Trust said "Whist you do not have to look the part for a phone interview , you do need to prepare and you have to sound the part......many graduates find themselves losing out at the first stage interview because they lack the experience, skills and even the confidence to make a good first impression.  

UK Crack Down on Foreign Student Visas!

The Home Office has introduced tough new rules for foreign students seeking to study in the UK. The Home Secretary, Alan Johnson confirmed that new applicants would have to speak passable english and those on short courses would not be allowed to bring in dependants. Those studying degree level courses would now only be allowed to work 10 hours a week instead of 20, and visas for non-degree courses would only be granted to institutions that were on a new register, the 'Highly Trusted Sponsors List.' 

The UK government will also require all foreign students to be sponsored by a college licenced by the UK Border Agency. Any University or College wishing to bring in international students will have to be licenced and accredited. This is has more than halved the number of institutions able to bring students into the UK from over 4000 to around 2,000.

The Government acknowledged that care would have to be taken to ensure that the economy did not suffer damage as a result of the changes. With 236,000 student visas being issued in 2008 - 2009 accounting for 30% of all visas; the UK is the second most popular destination after the US for overseas students entering higher education contributing between £5 billion to £8 billion annually.

The new rules come into effect on 3 March 2010.

Are HR and Recruiters Listening to Each Other?

While in theory recruitment only represents a small part of an HR Manager's role, in practice it can be one of the  most time consuming activities. Furthermore, at a time when HR is under pressure to reduce costs it is essential to try and make the recruitment process as cost-effective as possible. The dilemma lies in the fact that HR managers have less time on their hands to brief and give feedback to recruiters which in turn makes it inordinately more difficult for recruiters to put forward the right candidates.   

A recent survey conducted by Vanson Bourne indicated that many employers felt that recruiters didn't listen to them, sent them poorly targeted CVs that didn't fit the specification required or worse, over-sold the skills of candiadates. 

Recruiters can also fairly  point the finger at employers who could do a lot more to improve communication by provding more feedback and guidance to aid the candidate search.

It is clear that recruiters and employers need a more effective way of working together whether it is simply by communicating better with each other or by using an online recruitment marketplace. By working together HR and recruiters can ensure smarter interactions. This means less administration and better targeted CVs saving both parties valuable time and money and more importantly enhancing confidence levels in the industry.